Microsoft employees revolt over firm's 'proud support' of US ICE

While Microsoft didn't tackle the subject of its cloud platform being used by the ICE, it was fairly adamant that Azure isn't being used to facilitate the rather nasty and dystopian activities of the ICE.

"In a clear abdication of ethical responsibility, Microsoft went as far as boasting that its services "support the core [ICE] agency functions" and enable ICE agents to "process data on edge devices" and 'utilize deep learning capabilities to accelerate facial recognition and identification, '" the letter says. On social media, critics called on Microsoft employees to demand that their employer drop the government contract.

"I want to be clear: Microsoft is not working with the USA government on any projects related to separating children from their families at the border", he wrote.

As first reported by the New York Times, more than 100 of the company's staff have signed an open letter to CEO Satya Nadella requesting to stop working with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Now it is back, and Microsoft has issued a statement clarifying its position about border policy. It was actually briefly removed but then later restored after a Microsoft spokesperson explained the removal was an employee "mistake".

Microsoft has been politically active on immigration issues in the last couple years, opposing the Muslim travel ban and supporting Dreamers, young people who came to the USA illegally as children, in statements and court cases.

Microsoft has come underfire after a blog post from January resurfaced, detailing how the company is "proud to support" Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a contract for their Azure Government Cloud software. "We urge the administration to change its policy and Congress to pass legislation ensuring children are no longer separated from their families".